A 35-year-old man Subhani, working in a jewellery unit, threw acid on a woman and her mother on Friday night at Godugupeta street in Machilipatnam town, after his proposal to marry the woman was turned down.

The incident took place around 10.45 p.m. when the 25-year-old woman and her mother were returning home to their apartment in a block of flats where Subhani, his wife and two children also stay.

Last year, Subhani had proposed to marry the woman claiming that his wife had died of cancer and that he had no children. The woman's parents considered the proposal but sought time to take a decision.

“Recently we came to know that his wife is alive. We rejected the proposal and decided to send our daughter to Visakhapatnam,” victim's father Mohammed Yousuf told The Hindu.

On Friday, the girl and her mother went to Durga at Kakani in Guntur district. Anticipating that the girl was preparing to shift to Visakhapatnam, Subhani reportedly waited for her to return home and threw acid on her. When her mother tried to stop him, he poured it on her too, resulting in severe burn injuries on both women. Later, he poured acid on himself. He had stored the acid in a bucket. Residents of the area say that Subhani had used concentrated sulphuric acid which is commonly stocked by workers in the jewellery industry.

Local people rushed the trio to a hospital. “The woman could not open her eyes and there is a danger of losing vision. Her mother has also received severe burn injuries on her entire body, but she is out of danger” a duty doctor told The Hindu.

The accused, who also sustained burn injuries, is being treated at a government hospital in Machilipatnam.

Slideshow

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) organised a mock demonstration on ways to rescue people drowning in River Krishna in the presence of its Director General O.P. Singh at Seethanagaram in Guntur District on Tuesday. The Hindu photographer V. Raju captures the action.